SL          . 


CONSERVATION  OF  FOOD 

The  Public  Services  of 
HERBERT  C.  HOOVER 


SPEECH 

OF  , 

HON.  JAMES  aPHELAN   'i«?fe  < 

/  » 

OF  CALIFORNIA    7/ 

13^0 

IN  THE 

SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 


JULY  16,  1917 


2730—17729 


WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING   OFFICE 
1917 


SPEECH 

OF 

F ON.  JAMBS    D.  PHELAN 


CONSERVATION    OF  FOOD. 

The  Senate  as  in  Committee  of  the  Whole  resumed  the  consideration 
of  the  bill  (II.  I{.  4901)  to  provide  for  the  national  security  and  defense 
by  encouraging  the  production,  conserving  the  supply,  and  controlling 
the  distribution  of  food  products  and  fuel. 

Mr.  PHELAN.  Mr.  President,  the  Senator  from  Pennsylvania 
[Mr.  PENROSE]  the  other  clay  seemed  to  intimate  in  the  course 
of  his  speech  that  it  was  only  when  California  was  concerned 
that  I  was  moved  to  take  part  in  the  debate. 

I  have  listened  to  the  philippic  against  my  esteemed  country- 
man, Mr.  Herbert  C.  Hoover,  delivered  by  the  Senator  from 
Missouri  [Mr.  REED],  and  I  can  not  see,  after  listening  for  sev- 
eral hours,  that  in  any  way  has  his  personal  integrity  been  im- 
pugned, hi's  capacity  impeached,  or  his  ability  to  serve  his  coun- 
try in  this  crisis  in  any  way  discredited.  If  he  were  not  a 
man  who  had  attracted  the  attention  of  the  world,  he  would 
not  be  the  subject  of  discussion  in  this  Chamber.  If  he  were 
not  a  man  who  had  already  demonstrated  his  fitness,  his  name, 
which  is  not  before  us  in  any  official  way,  would  not  be  con- 
sidered in  a  long  and  serious  argument.  The  Senator  from 
Missouri  seeks  more  to  criticize  the  methods  proclaimed  by 
Mr.  Hoover,  growing  out  of  his  long  experience  abroad,  than 
to  inform  us  positively  why  in  'this,  emergency,  if  he  should 
be  selected,  he  would  not  be  the  most  admirable  and  capable 
man  of  whom  the  world  to-day  has  knowledge  for  this  special 
task. 

I  know  the  Senator  from  Missouri  has  been  accustomed  in 
his  own  State  to  try  before  juries  men  indicted  for  and  doubt- 
less guilty  of  petty  offenses.  He  has  pursued  a  style  in  his 
argument  which  reminds  one  more  of  the  method  of  a  lawyer 
pleading'  to  a  jury  in  condemnation  of  some  culprit  than  of 
trying  to  convey  information  to  the  Senate  now  engaged  in  the 
consideration  of  a  measure  which  but  incidentally  involves  the 
services  of  Mr.  Hoover.  I  think  the  Senator  from  Missouri 
enjoyed  quite  as  much  as  we  liave  enjoyed  his  address  and 
discussion,  because  he  was  relieved  from  following  the  rules  of 
evidence,  and  he  introduced  any  kind  of  matter  without  regard 
to  its  relevance  in  order  to  make  his  address,  if  not  convincing, 
at  any  rate  entertaining. 

The  first  indictment  the  Senator  made  against  Mr.  Hoover 
was  that  there  was  a  doubt  as  to  his  Americanism.  The  Sen- 
ator from  Missouri  did  not  say  that  Mr.  Hoover  was  not  born 
in  the  wheat  belt,  because  he  was  born,  confessedly,  in  the 
State  of  Iowa.  The  Senator  did  not  say  that  Mr.  Hoover  lacked 
experience  in  a  State  where  the  products  are  so  diversified  as  in 

2  2736—17729 


Library 


California,-  because  as  a  young  man  lie  went  to  California,  lived 
among  her  people,  participated  in  their  activities,  and  wa's 
graduated  at  the  great  Stanford  University  at  Palo  Alto,  by 
which  he  is  considered  to-day  one  of  its  honored  trustees  and 
worthy  sons.  The  faculty  take  an  especial  pride  in  the  achieve- 
ments of  the  boy  whom  they  sent  out  upon  the  world. 

His  sin  began  when,  with  the  advantages  of  birth  in  Iowa  and 
education  in  California,  he  dared  to  go  to  China  and  to  Aus- 
tralia and  South  Africa — certainly  a  most  serious  offense.  No 
American  can  tolerate,  in  his  amiable  conceit,  the  thought  of 
one  of  his  fellows  going  out  of  the  limits  of  the  United  States, 
because,  be  it  known,  our  country  embraces  everything  that 
is  both  good  and  wise,  everything  in  the  domain  of  the  vege- 
table, the  mineral,  the  animal,  and  the  intellectual  kingdoms, 
and  therefore  a  man  is  put  on  the  defensive  when  he  goes 
abroad.  But 

Hew  much  the  fool  who  has  been  sent  to  roam 
Excels  the  fool  who  has  been  kept  at  home. 

It  has  occurred  to  the  proverb  maker,  and  possibly  it  is  within 
our  own  experience,  that  a  man  who  has  traveled  not  only  be- 
comes possessed  of  more  information  but  I  believe  he  becomes 
even  a  better  American.  If  he  goes  abroad  and  garners  expe- 
rience in  every  field  and  still  remains  an  American,  his  asset  to 
us  as  an  American  citizen  is  very  much  greater  than  had  he 
remained  at  home. 

He  went  to  Australia.  We  know  that  vast  field.  He  \vent  to 
China  to  open  mines.  He  went  to  South  Africa.  In  those  coun- 
tries he  not  only  acquired  knowledge  and  experience  of  men  and 
affairs  but  he  acquired  an  honorable  fortune.  Going  away 
from  the  apron  strings  of  his  native  land  into  the  hard  places 
of  the  earth,  there  in  competition  with  men,  engineers  like  him- 
self and  miners  like  himself,  to  have  wrested  from  the  reluctant 
earth  a  fortune,  which  he  has  wisely  employed,  certainly  should 
riot  be  a  matter  of  reproach.  All  these  things  he  has  done. 

Before  the  war  he  found  himself  in  London.  My  first  knowl- 
edge of  Mr.  Hoover's  work  was  in  London,  when  in  1913  I  went 
there  in  an  official  capacity  to  interest  the  British  Government  - 
to  participate  in  the  Panama-Pacific  Exposition.  At  that  time 
Mr.  Hoover  stood  at  the  head,  not  of  Englishmen,  not  of 
Australians,  not  of  Africanders,  but  of  Americans.  It  became 
advisable  to  organize  a  committee  for  the  purpose  of  proving 
to  the  British  Board  of  Trade  that  there  was  a  real  and 
valuable  trade  purpose  to  be  subserved  by  participating  in  that 
international  exposition.  Mr.  Hoover  undertook  that  work, 
having  been  unanimously  selected  by  his  fellows.  I  may  say 
here  that  a  remarkable  thing  about  this  man  is  his  quality  of 
leadership  and  genius  for  organization.  There,  in  a  strange  land 
and  among  his  compatriots  he  was  regarded  as  the  first  citizen 
and  to  him  they  turned. 

Then  the  war  broke  out,  and  Mr.  Hoover,  among  the  Ameri- 
cans who  were  in  London,  not  as  exiles,  but  in  prosecuting  the 
world's  work  in  which  Africa,  Australia,  China,  and  America 
were  all  involved,  had  become  international,  not  only  in  his 
vocation,  not  only  in  his  affairs,  but  in  his  comprehensive  under- 
standing of  and  sympathy  with  the  needs  of  humanity.  Whefl 
a  man  has  traveled  he  learns  probably  better  to  understand  his 
fellow  man  and  does  not  confine  his  affections  and  exclusive 
2736—17729 


12. 


interest  to  those  who  are  nearest  to  him.  It  is  a  kind  of 
religion,  an  elevation  of  spirit,  a  broadening  of  vision.  As 
Thoreau  said,  "  When  a  man  has  traveled,  when  he  has  robbed 
the  horizon  of  his  native  fields  of  their  mystery  and  trampled 
the  blue  of  the  distant  mountains  with  his  feet,  he  begins  to 
think  of  another  world  " — the  world  of  humanity. 

Travel  is  an  expansive  process,  giving  breadth,  love,  and 
universality  of  vision  to  the  man  who  is  so  fortunate  as  to 
enjoy  its  opportunities. 

As  was  said  when  America  began  to  grow — 

No  pent-up   Utica   confines   our   powers, 
But  the  whole  boundless  continent  is  ours. 

And  now  that  the  world  war  has  given  us  the  world  for  our 
stage,  let  us  have  a  world-wide  man  to  do  our  work. 

There  is  a  craving  to  get  out  of  our  provincialism  and  expand 
more  and  more.  Hoover  is  a  pioneer  American,  you  may  say,  in 
that  realm  of  usefulness,  both  in  the  world  development  of  re- 
sources and  in  the  practical  expression  of  humane  sentiments. 
What  was  the  magnitude  of  the  enterprise  which  gave  him  fa  me? 
How  much  money  was  involved  in  his  work  in  Belgium,  of  which 
we  have  heard?  He  presided  over  the  Belgian  relief  committee 
and  organized  it.  We  have  relief  committees  on  every  corner  in 
the  United  States.  Everybody  within  his  limitations  is  trying  to 
help ;  but  there  he  was  at  the  head — and  he  was  the  head,  and 
it  is  well  that  he  was  the  head — of  a  commission  which  possessed 
the  confidence  of  England,  of  France,  and  of  the  United  States. 
Into  his  hands — I  am  speaking  of  him  individually  now — there 
was  deposited  no  less  than  $250,000,000  for  Belgian  relief  and 
for  the  relief  of  the  people  of  the  north  of  France  within  the 
very  few  years  during  which  the  war  has  progressed. 

I  was  told  on  one  occasion  that  he  was  given  a  check  on  the 
French  Treasury  for  $4,000,000,  without  any  understanding 
whatever  that  it  should  be  accounted  for,  nor  was  he  required 
to  make  an  accounting ;  but  he  did  make  an  accounting.  He  is 
a  business  man.  He  was  not  going  to  expose  himself  to  the 
taunts  of  the  malicious  or  the  ignorant.  He  kept  books,  and 
the  overhead  expense  in  the  administration  of  that  great  fund 
was  only  one-sixteenth  of  1  per  cent.  It  was  a  labor  of  love, 
and  he  calls  upon  those  to  help  in  the  same  spirit  as  volun- 
teers;  and  here  to-day  in  Washington,  rallied  by  his  side,  are 
hundreds  of  volunteers,. willing  under  his  leadership  to  carry  on 
this  work  of  relief  and  conservation.  An  overhead  expense  of 
one-sixteenth  of  1  per  cent  is  certainly  a  most  excellent  showing 
in  the  administration  of  a  relief  fund  involving  $2oO,000,000  in  a 
strange  land ;  and,  having  acquired  that  priceless  experience,  he 
is  available  for  our  purposes.  Do  we  not  need  such  a  man? 

The  Senator  has  intimated  that  he  was  a  self-seeker.  I  inter- 
rogated him  to  ask  whether  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  President 
of  the  United  States  had  not  sent  for  him.  The  President  did  not 
know  him  personally ;  but  the  President  lives  in  the  world. 
As  a  citizen  of  the  world  he  knew  of  the  fame  of  Hoover,  and 
he  called  upon  Hoover,  not  to  confer  any  benefit  upon  Hoover; 
he  called  upon  Hoover  to  render  assistance  to  his  native  land. 
While  the  Senator  from  Missouri  was  talking  I  rang  up  Mr. 
Hoover  and  asked  him  as  to  his  citizenship.  "  Why,"  he  said,  "  I 
am  an  American.  I  never  for  one  minute  relinquished  my  citi- 
zenship. I  am  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  and  a  resident  of 
2736—17729 


California,  qualified  to  vote  in  California.  I  never  had  any 
other  thought." 

It  is  rather  painful  that  a  man  should  be  expatriated,  even  in 
the  course  of  an  afternoon's  speech,  when  his  great  achievements 
are  the  glory  of  his  country.  Hoover,  the  American — so  he  is 
regarded  abroad,  as  he  should  be  regarded  at  home,  with  appre- 
ciation and  affection.  He  is  a  man  that  gives  no  offense.  He  is 
a  man,  as  you  have  observed,  of  quiet  manner.  That  he  lias  been 
the  subject  of  voluminous  advertising  is  no  fault  of  his  own. 
The  instincts  of  our  journalists  are  very  often  true.  They  find 
a  man  modest,  and  in  proportion  to  his  modesty  they  make  him 
conspicuous,  if  he  has  merit.  If  he  is  a  self-seeker,  they  leave 
him  alone.  Because  Mr.  Hoover  has  won  the  esteem  of  the 
press  and  his  achievements  have  been  published  far  and  wide 
is  no  reason  why  Mr.  Hoover  himself  is  not  a  modest  man.  He 
is  a  modest  man,  because  "  modesty  is  the  chastity  of  merit." 

He  can  not  make  a  speech  as  eloquent  as. a  speech  by  the  Sena- 
tor from  Missouri.  If  he  could,  how  convincing  indeed  he  would 
be,  having  both  the  eloquence  and  the  facts  !  He  lacks  the  ability 
to  present  his  case ;  and  because  he  is  here  this  afternoon  made 
the  subject  of  such  severe  criticism  I  have  ventured,  all  unpre- 
pared, to  tell  you  the  manner  of  man  he  is  and  the  character  of 
his  work. 

I  do  not  think,  though,  that  anything  in  the  remarks  of  the 
Senator  from  Missouri  really  made  any  impression,  except— and 
it  was  new  to  me — the  assertion  that  he  engaged  in  speculation 
in  foodstuffs.  In  an  inspired  article,  as  I  should  call  it,  by 
Ernest  Poole,  in  the  Saturday  Evening  Post  of  May  26,  1917,  I 
find  that  among  the  difficulties  experienced  by  Hoover  in  pur- 
chasing supplies  from  charity  funds,  meager  as  they  were  in 
proportion  to  the  vast  need,  it  was  incumbent  upon  him  as 
a  humanitarian  as  well  as  a  business  man  to  drive  as  hard  and 
fast  a  bargain  for  the  suffering  poor  as  though  he  were  en- 
gaged in  a  gainful  business  for  himself.  There  is  no  charge 
here  that  he  did  engage  in  speculation  for  himself.  The 
learned  Senator  from  Missouri  exonerates  him  from  all  fault 
of  that  kind ;  but  still  he  says  that  he  did  speculate.  This  is 
the  character  of  the  speculation,  the  object  manifestly  being 
to  get  the  most  food  against  the  hoarding  of  speculators  for  the 
hungry  mouths  of  the  unfortunate  people  for  whom  he  had  been 
administering  this  great  trust. 

I  read  from  the  article  I  mentioned: 

It— 

This  great  work — 

must  be  done  cheaply  and  without  fail.  And,  in  order  to  save  every 
possible  dollar,  only  those  kin,ds  of  food  must  be  bought  that  would  give 
the  greatest  nourishment.  This  they  learned  from  expert  dietitians. 

But  as  to  purchasing  supplies  there  were  big  men  on  the  C.  R.  B. 
who  needed  no  expert  advice.  They  knew  all  the  tricks  of  the 
business.  When  the  price  of  beans  began  to  rise  they  bought  1,000 
tons  of  beans  and  threw  them  back  in  one  lot  on  the  market.  Down 
went  prices.  They  bought  in  small  lots.  Slowly  again  the  price 
began  rising  ;  but  once  more  the  terrific  impact  of  1,000  tons  of  beans 
was  felt.  Again  the  price  dropped,  and  again  their  ageats  bought 
beans  in  small  lots. 

So  again  and  again  did  that  same  thousand  tons  of  beans  hammer 
down  prices  and  save  the  day.  The  same  was  true  wherever  they 
went.  In  food  and  in  shoes  and  clothing  repeatedly  through  expert 
advice  of  business  men  as  shrewd  as  themselves  they  went  into  the 
market  and  bought  at  cost,  and  often  below  it. 
2730—17729 


6 

These  are  the  facts.  That  is  the  method  of  the  speculator, 
if  you  please — to  buy  and  to  sell — and  the  market  is  affected  by 
purchases  and  by  sales.  That  is  where  he  utilized  his  knowledge 
of  the  business  methods  of  the  world  and  turned  them  to  good 
account.  Certainly  that  is  not  a  reproach. 

While  the  Senator  from  Missouri  was  talking,  I  rang  up  Mr. 
Hoover  on  the  telephone  again  and  said  that  he  was  being 
accused  of  speculating,  not  necessarily  in  his  own  interest,  with 
the  funds  of  the  Belgian  relief  commission.  I  said,  "What 
truth  is  there  in  it?"  desiring  to  communicate  his  own  state- 
ment to  the  Senate.  He  expressed  very  considerable  indigna- 
tion. He  may  be  a  mild-mannered  man,  as  is  described,  but, 
mild  mannered  as  a  man  may  be,  he  would  naturally  resent  any 
imputation  which  he  thought  reflected  upon  his  good  name  or 
his  honor.  I  hastily  assured  him  there  was  no  accusation  of 
that  kind ;  but  I  said :  "  What  was  the  practice  in  securing 
your  food  supplies,  in  making  your  purchases  in  the  open  mar- 
ket, with  a  view  possibly  of  getting  better  rates  for  the  trust 
which  you  were  administering?  "  He  said  there  was  no  specu- 
lation of  any  character.  He  went  into  the  open  market  and 
purchased  goods,  and  if  he  sold  goods  it  was  in  order  to  make 
more  advantageous  purchases ;  and  the  nearest  thing  that  might 
approach  speculation,  he  said,  was  when  in  the  United  States 
he  purchased  a  quantity  of  goods  of  some  character,  and  could 
not  find  a  ship  for  it,  and  therefore  was  obliged  to  sell  it  in 
the  market,  netting,  I  believe,  a  profit;  but  that  profit  went 
into  the  Belgian  relief  fund,  and  made  more  easy  the  adminis- 
tration of  his  trust  in  meeting  the  demands  of  those  who  were 
dependent  upon  it. 

Mr.  REED.     Mr.  President 

The  PRESIDING  OFFICER  (Mr.  JOHNSON  of  California  in 
the  chair).  Does  the  Senator  from  California  yield  to  the 
Senator  from  Missouri? 

Mr.  PHELAN.     I  do. 

Mr.  REED.  I  should  like  to  have  the  Senator,  now,  be  specific. 
I  should  like  to  know  if  Mr.  Hoover  repudiates  this  beau  story 
that  is  printed  over  Mr.  Poole's  signature  in  the  Saturday  Even- 
ing Post? 

Mr.  PHELAN.  I  have  read  approvingly  the  bean  story  pub- 
lished by  Mr.  Ernest  Poole  in  the  Saturday  Evening  Post.  I 
have  not  Mr.  Hoover's  word  for  it.  I  had  not  read  the  story 
when  I  telephoned  half  an  hour  ago  to  Mr.  Hoover,  but  I  do 
not  know  why  Mr.  Hoover  should  disavow  it,  and  I  am  willing 
to  assume  that  it  is  true 

Mr.  REED.     Very  well. 

Mr.  PHELAN.  For  this  reason :  This  excerpt  was  given  to  me 
by  Mr.  Hoover's  friend,  Judge  Curtis  Lindley,  of  California, 
who  is  one  of  his  coadjutors.  I  asked  him  for  information  about 
Hoover,  and  he  handed  me  this.  That  is  why  I  said  I  believed 
it  was  inspired,  and  therefore  true. 

Mr.  REED.  When  the  Senator  says  "  He  handed  me  this," 
he  has  in  his  hand  the  Saturday  Evening  Post  containing  Mr. 
Poole's  article,  and  that  is  what  he  refers  to  as  an  inspired  ar- 
ticle. 

Mr.  PHELAN.     It  is. 

Mr.  REED.  The  Senator  admits  that  statement  to  be  true, 
and  in  addition  to  that  says  that  Mr.  Hoover  states  that  if  he 
2736 — 17729 


sold  anything  in  this  country  it  was  with  the  idea  of  buying  more. 
Now,  will  the  Senator  toll  the  Senate  and  the  country  why  a  man 
engaged  in  buying  foodstuffs  for  Belgium,  and  having  bough't 
foodstuffs  for  Belgium,  should  sell  them  for  the  purpose  of  buy- 
ing more,  unless  he  did  it  to  affect  the  price?  Why  sell  the  very 
goods  you  had  bought  with  the  intention  of  immediately  buying 
more  unless  you  did  it  for  the  purpose  of  breaking  the  market? 

Mr.  PHELAN.  I  think  it  was.  perfectly  plain  in  my  state- 
ment, Mr.  President,  that  the  deliberate  intention  of  Mr.  Hoover, 
according  to  this  article,  was  to  force  down  the  mounting  prices 
which  heartless  speculation  had  sought  to  impose  even  upon  a 
charity  fund.  I  can  not  see  that  any  apology  is  necessary  for 
Mr.  Hoover  in  a  warfare  of  that  kind,  fighting  the  devil  witty 
fire,  to  unload  a  carload  here  and  there  in  order  to  buy  more 
advantageously  a  larger  quantity  for  the  purposes  which  I 
mentioned. 

Mr.  REED.  Mr.  President,  I  do  not  want  to  interrupt  the 
Senator 

Mr.  PHELAN.     It  does  not  interrupt  me. 

Mr.  REED.  The  Senator,  then,  admits  that  the  process  was 
to  go  into  the  market  and  buy  in  small  quantities  until  a  very 
large  amount  had  been  accumulated?  That,  of  course,  would 
have  the  effect  gradually  of  raising  the  price.  Having  raised 
the  price,  the  process  then  was  to  throw  the  whole  of  that  which 
had  been  bought  into  the  market  and  break  it,  and  repeat  the 
operation.  Now,  if  that  be  not  strictly  in  accordance  with  the 
most  approved  methods  of  Wall  Street  gambling  and  of  wheat- 
pit  gambling,  will  the  Senator  please  tell  us  what  the  better 
methods  are? 

Mr.  PHELAN.     It  is  not  the  gallows  that  makes  the  crimg. 

Mr.  REED.  No;  but  it  is  the  crime  that  makes  the  neces- 
sity for  the  gallows. 

Mr.  PHELAN.  Granted.  An  act  may  be  done  by  a  patriot 
which,  if  done  by  a  lesser  mortal,  would  be  crime.  In  history, 
patriots  have  committed  what  we  call  crimes  believing  that  they 
were  acting  in  a  righteous  cause.  History,  for  instance,  has  never 
put  Brutus  in  the  category  of  ordinary  offenders.  A  man  may 
commit  an  overt  act  of  any  kind  not  strictly  in  accordance  with 
the  law  and  history  would  find  justification  for  him  on  account 
of  the  purity  of  his  motives.  It  is  all  a  matter  of  ethics  and 
viewpoint. 

To  buy  and  sell  speculatively  in  Wall  Street  is  an  offense,  if 
you  please.  I  do  not  know  that  it  is  even  a  statutory  offense.; 
To  buy  and  sell  in  the  wheat  pit  in  Chicago  is  an  offense  ac- 
cording to  the  Senator  from  Missouri.  I  do  not  know  that  it  is 
a  statutory  offense.  At  any  rate,  it  is  frequently  practiced. 
But  assuming  that  it  is  an  offense,  it  is  not  an  offense  of  such 
a  character  as  to  deter  from  engaging  in  it  a  man  actuated  by 
good  and  pure  motives  in  a  conflict  with  speculators.  He  might 
buy  in  the  ordinary  market  from  jobbers  and  from  brokers  find 
easily  consume  the  entire  sum  which  was  at  his  disposal  with- 
out accomplishing  one  tithe  of  the  good  which  he  would  have 
accomplished  had  he  resorted  to  the  methods  of  the  broker  and 
the  speculator. 

I  am  not  here  to  apologize  for  Mr.  Hoover's  action  as  de- 
scribed in  this  article  by  Mr.  Poole.  If  these  acts  in  themselves 
were  of  a  reprehensible  character — which  I  can  not  admit,  be- 
cause they  violate  no  law,  the  buying  and  selling  on  the  mar- 
2730—17729 


8 

ket — if  these  acts  were  of  a  reprehensible  character,  what  must 
be  the  character  of  the  conduct  of  those  men  who  presented  an 
almost  impassable  barrier  to  the  Belgian  Relief  Commission 
seeking  food  for  hungry  people?  In  order  to  overcome  that  bar- 
rier it  was  necessary  for  Mr.  Hoover  and  his  confreres  to  break 
it  down  or  to  scale  it.  They  accomplished  their  just  purposes  by 
resorting  to  the  methods  practiced  by  brokers,  let  us  admit,  and 
those  methods  are  not  wrongfully  employed  when  employed  for 
good  purposes ;  certainly  not  wrongfully  employed  when  em- 
ployed to  overcome  a  barrier  against  the  Belgian  relief,  in  this 
instance,  seeking  food  for  hungry  people. 

Mr.  REED.     Mr.  President — 

The  PRESIDING  OFFICER.  Does  the  Senator  from  Cali- 
fornia yield  to  the  Senator  from  Missouri? 

Mr.  PHELAN.     I  do. 

Mr.  REED.  If  the  Senator  will  yield  for  one  further  inter- 
ruption, the  Senator  speaks  of  a  barrier  that  had  been  created. 

Mr.  PHELAN.     The,  barrier  of  high  prices. 

Mr.  REED.  Yes.  Now,  let  us  see.  Mr.  Hoover  went  into  the 
market  and  bought  his  10,000  tons  of  beans.  He  bought  them 
on  a  market  that  existed.  It  is  not  claimed  that  the  market 
then  was  very  high ;  but  the  buying  of  these  10,000  tons  of  beans 
ran  the  market  up.  ^  Now,  he  had  his  beans ;  he  had  bought 
them  in  a  market  that  was  not  controlled;  but  having  thus 
gained  control  of  the  market,  he  proceeded  to  hurl  all  the 
10,000  tons  of  beans  into  the  market  at  once,  and,  to  use  the 
expression  of  the  writer,  the  eulogist,  the  impact  of  that  blow 
broke  the  market;  and  so  he  repeated  the  operation.  Now,  I 
think  the  Senator  is  not  warranted  in  saying  that  there  was  any 
barrier  of  high  prices  set  against  him  in  the  first  instance.  He 
simply  did  as  others  have  done ;  in  buying  enough  to  control 
the  market  he  boosted  the  prices.  He  was  safe  in  doing  it  be- 
cause, having  complete  control  of  the  market,  he  could  drive 
them  down.  I  think  the  Senator's  assumption  that  he  had  a 
barrier  of  high  prices  is  not  borne  out  by  anything  stated  in  the 
article,  or  by  any  fact  known  to  anybody.  However,  I  thank 
the  Senator.  I  should  not  have  so  long  interrupted  him. 

Mr.  PHELAN.  I  think  the  Senator  from  Missouri  under- 
stands quite  as  well  as  I  the  nature  of  the  offense  which  he 
has  charged  to  Mr.  Hoover,  and  I  am  confidently  disposed  to  offer 
a  plea  of  justification ;  and  I  will  leave  that  to  the  consideration 
jof  the  Senate. 

There  is  one  other  point  which  the  Senator  made,  and  were 
it  not  so  serious  it  would  be  amusing.  I  think  the  Senator  over- 
looks the  fact,  so  accustomed  is  he  to  these  piping  hours  of  peace 
within  these  precincts,  that  we  are  at  war,  serious  war,  and 
in  order  to  win  a  victory  it  is  not  only  necessary  to  have  men 
and  munitions  and  those  "  great  guns  which  make  ambition 
virtue  " ;  it  is  necessary  to  have  food  supplies  not  only  for  the 
combatants  but  for  the  noncombatants,  for  the  civilian  popula- 
tion. We  have  lived  so  long  in  luxury  and  abundance  that  it 
is  hard,  I  admit,  to  conceive  of  any  condition  \vhere  there  will 
not  be  enough  food  for  us  all,  even  when  traveling  in  palace 
cars.  We  have  been  unused  to  privation. 

Now,  we  are  to  profit  only  by  our  own  experience?  The  wise 
man  has  said  that  experience  is  the  mistress  of  fools.  We  must 
profit  by  the  experience  of  others  if  we  are  wise ;  and  I  have  here 
this  startling  statement : 

2736 — 17729 


9 

This  year  we  are  faced  with  a  world  shortage. 

This  statement  was  made  by  Mr.  Hoover  at  Brown  University. 

Next  year  this  shortage  will  be  greater.  *  *  *  Our  whole  food 
problem  revolves  around  one  single  factor — the  diminishing  productivity 
of  Europe  and  the  disruption  of  commerce  by  armored  barriers. 

He  goes  on  to  say  : 

Uppermost  in  my  mind,  and  present  I  hope  in  yours,  is  the  problem 
which  I  was  recalled  from  Europe  to  engage  myself  with  on  behalf  of 
the  President. 

In  passing,  I  may  say  that  Mr.  Hoover  was  not  a  self-seeker, 
but  was  brought  to  this  country  by  the  President.  At  Washing- 
ton on  May  19  the  President  issued  the  following  statement. 

After  calling  attention  to  the  desperate  condition  in  which  this 
country  would  be  involved  on  account  of  a  food  shortage  and 
speculation,  he  adds : 

I  have  asked  Mr.  Herbert  Hoover  to  under  takey  this  all-important  task" 
of  food  administration.     He  has  expressed  his  willingness  to  do  so  on 
condition  that  he  is  to  receive  no  payment  for  his  services,  and  that  the 
whole  of  the  force  under  him.  exclusive  of  clerical  assistance,  shall  be 
employed,  so  far  as  possible,  upon  the  same  volunteer  basis. 

He  has  expressed  his  confidence  that  this  difficult  matter  of  food 
administration  can  be  successfully  accomplished  through  the  voluntary 
cooperation  and  direction  of  legitimate  distributers  of  foodstuffs  and 
with  the  help  of  the  women  of  the  country. 

Although  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  unquestionable  powers  shall 
be  placed  in  my  hands  in  order  to  insure  ths*  success  of  this  adminis- 
tration of  the  food  supplies  of  the  country,  I  am  confident  that  th^ 
exercise  of  those  powers  will  be  necessary  only  in  the  few  cases  where 
some  small  and  selfish  minority  proves  unwilling  to  put  the  Nation's 
interests  above  personal  advantage,  and  that  the  whole  country  wi.U 
heartily  support  Mr.  Hoover's  efforts  by  supplying  the  necessary  vol- 
unteer agencies  throughout  the  country  for  the  intelligent  control  of 
food  consumption  and  securing  the  cooperation  of  the  most  capable 
leaders  of  the  very  interests  most  directly  affected,  that  the  exercise 
of  the  powers  deputed  to  him  will  rest  very  successfully  upon  the  good 
will  and  cooperation  of  the  people  themselves,  and  that  the  ordinary 
economic  machinery  of  the  country  will  be  left  substantially  undis- 
turbed. 

Now,  continuing  Mr.  Hoover's  own  statement  before  Brown 
University,  the  food  controller  by  appointment  of  the  President, 
says : 

I  do  not  propose  in  these  few  minutes  to  enter  the  forest  of  dietetic, 
administrative,  and  economic  difficulties  with  which  the  problem  is  sur- 
rounded. I  wish  to  present  but  one  theme  to  your  mind.  Our  whola 
food  problem  revolves  around  one  single  factor — the  diminishing  pro- 
ductivity of  Europe  and  the  disruption  of  commerce  by  armored  'barriers. 

Since  the  wonderful  world  harvest  of  1915  the  food  supplies  of  the 
world  have  been  steadily  lessening.  This  year  we  are  faced  with  a 
world  shortage  and  next  year  the  shortage  will  be  greater.  Severity 
million  men  in  Europe  have  been  called  out  of  productive  labor  and 
devoted'  to  fighting  and  the  production  of  implements  of  war.  The 
women  have  been  unable  to  in  full  renew  the  harvest,  and  there,  has 
been  a  great  diversion  of  animals  and  transport  to  war.  The  land  is 
no  longer  receiving  the  fertilizer  of  old.  In  order  to  decrease  the 
production  of  fodder  grains  and  increase  the  production  of  bread  grains, 
and  to  secure  protein  and  fat  supplies,  Europe  is  eating  into  her  capita! 
of  animals.  This  again  reacts  on  the  productivity  of  the  land,  ami 
foodstuffs  are  beyond  this  daily  being  destroyed  at  sea  in  shipload,;. 
Our  own  allies  are  separated  from  their  normal  markets  of  Russia. 
Bulgaria,  Roumania,  while  the  Argentine  has  had  a  crop  failure,  and 
the  shortage  of  our  allies 'therefore  is  more  acute  than  their  own  de- 
cline represents.  Bancroft  L 

It  is  the  impact  of  this  shortage  that  has  knocked  at  every  door  ai 
the  United  States.  We  are  #  country  of  abundant  surplus,  jet  the  re- 
verberation of  Europe's  shortage  would  have  thundered  imperiously, 
even  had  we  never  entered  the  war. 

The  reaction  of  Europe  has  raised  our  prices  above  the  endurable 
level,  and  will,  if  we  do  nothing,  raise  them  still  higher,  for  their  m-rd 
grows  yearly.  By  our  entry  into  the  war  we  arrive  at  two  issues  : 
First,  the  issue  we  must  have  partially  fronted  in  any  event,  the  control 
of  our  food  so  as  to  ameliorate  prices,  for  unless  we  e&a  do  so  we  must 
273G— 17729 


10 

meet  a  raise  of  wages  with  all  its  vicious  circle  of  social  disruption  at 
a  time  when  maximum  efficiency  is  vital  to  our  safety;  second,  that 
we  may  also  moot  the  increased  demands  of  our  allies  that  they  may 
remain  constant  in  the  war. 

These  problems  are  not  insoluble  if  taken  in  time.  In  their  solu- 
tion lies  a  prime  test  of  democracy.  The  question  is,  Can  our  form  of 
government  put  forward  the  organization,  the  devotion,  the  self-denial, 
the  efficiency,  the  preparation  in  advance  of  storm?  Must  we  wait 
until  disaster  is  upon  us  and  then  reap  the  whirlwind  in  a  lament  of 
"Too  late"?  Caw  it  not  only  do  this  in  time,  but  can  it  also  do  so 
without  resort  to  measures  of  Prussianism  ?  I  believe  it  can.  I  believe 
our  faith  is  right.  I  believe  democracy  can  not  only  defend  itself  but 
it  can  prepare  in  time.  I  believe  that  the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  and 
idealism  runs  higher  among  our  people  than  in  any  other  land.  I  be- 
lieve with  the  mobilization  of  the  voluntary  support  of  our  people  these 
problems  are  soluble,  but  I  know  that  no  people  are  of  such  idealism 
but  that  some  individuals  and  their  selfishness  would  defeat  the  ma- 
jority. To  this  end  we  must  give  power,  but  that  is  not  the  power  of 
Prussianism  any  more  than  is  the  power  of  police  to  repress  crime. 

In  our  abundance,  our  undeveloped  resources,  our  wastage  and  ex- 
travagance, we  hold  it  in  our  power,  and  ours  alone,  to  keep  the  wolf 
from  the  door  of  the  world.  This  duty  is  wider  than  war — it  is  as  wide 
as  our  humanity. 

I  submit  that  a  man  who  has  such  broad  experience,  who  so 
well  marshals  his  facts,  who  is  so  convincing  in  his  statements, 
is  entitled  to  be  considered  an  authority  upon  a  subject  on 
which  most  of  us  are  densely  ignorant. 

There  is  nothing  in  his  career  to  indicate  that  he  has  any 
other  purpose  than  tftat  of  doing  good  to  his  country  and  to 
our  allies.  He  wishes  to  conserve  the  food  at  reasonable  prices ; 
and  I  have  heard  him,  in  the  presence  of  many  Senators,  say 
that  one  of  his  first  concerns  was  to  give  an  adequate  return 
to  the  farmer.  Certainly  there  is  no  plan  involved  under  the 
administration  of  this  American  to  deprive  the  producer  of  ade- 
quate returns  for  his  product.  I  have  heard  him  debate  in  con- 
versation with  a  Member  of  this  body  whether  it  would  not  be 
better  to  fix  a  price  of  $1.50  for  wheat  rather  than  $1.25,  and  he 
favored  the  larger  amount. 

It  is  only  to  prevent  excessive  charges,  speculative  prices, 
that  he  is  to  act  as  a  food  administrator.  He  is  there  now  in  a 
volunteer  capacity  under  the  authority  of  the  President,  and  his 
only  purpose  is  to  be  of  service.  Shall  we  not  enlist  his  service? 

The  Senator  from  Missouri,  in  the  defense  of  the  spirit  of 
American  liberty  and  the  Constitution,  again  reverts  to  the 
danger  of  investing  too  much  power  in  one  man ;  that  the  power 
of  a  food  regulator  might  be  administered  for  the  injury  of  the 
people  and  that  it  might  be  easily  abused.  I  think  we  must  as- 
sume in  giving  a  man  a  position  of  power  and  responsibility  that 
power  brings  with  it  that  he  is  there  to  serve  the  Government 
that  selected  him  for  a  particular  task,  and  not  to  serve  private 
interests  or  speculation ;  that  is,  he  is  there  in  the  spirit  which 
seems  to  be  the  atmosphere  of  a  man,  in  the  spirit  of  helpful 
and  patriotic  service. 

Of  course  when  we  get  in  trouble,  as  in  war,  we  turn  aside 
for  the  hour  from  the  so-called  established  principles  or  doc- 
trines of  democracy.  We  have  done  it  in  the  Senate  time  and 
time  again,  and  we  let  down  our  checks  and  balances.  We  see 
that  effective  and  prompt  action  is  vitally  necessary.  But  let 
us  hope  it  will  very  soon  be  over ;  everything  done  is  for  "  the 
period  of  the  war."  We  can  not  use  the  methods  of  peace  and 
win  victories  in  war ;  that  seems  to  be  conceded ;  and  that  we 
have  a  President  who  has  none  of  the  taint  of  the  usurper  in  his 
composition  is  a  very  good  thing  for  us  in  a  national  crisis  like 
this.  We  are  working  under  our  "  war  powers,"  and  our  Presi- 

27oG — 17729 


11 

deiit  lias  become  the  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  ~Army   and 
Navy. 

History  has  given  us  examples  of  men  who,  invested  with 
power,  were  loath  to  give  it  up.  It  was  the  surprise  of  Europe 
that  Washington  having  been  in  the  supreme  command  should 
have  relinquished  his  authority.  It  was  unknown  in  the  Old 
World  for  a  man  to  have  attained  power  and  yield  it.  Byron 
expressed  a  surprise  and  gratification  when  he  said : 
Where  can  the  wearied  eye  repose 

When  gazing  on  the  great, 
Where  neither  guilty  glory  glows 

Nor  despicable  state? 
Yes ;  one,  the  first,  the  last,  the  best, 

The  Cincinnatus  of  the  West, 
Whom  envy  dare  not  hate, 

Bequeath  the  name  of  Washington  ; 
To  make  man  blush,  there  is  but  one  ! 

In  the  long  succession  of  American  Presidents  the  example  of 
Washington  has  been  such  that  there  has  never  even  been  so 
much  as  a  suspicion  of  usurpation,  of  seizing  power  which  the 
people  would  fain  deny.  The  unwritten  law  even  has  been  ob- 
served with  respect  to  a  third  presidential  term.  Can  it  be 
possible  that  a  food  conserver,  invested  with  the  power  of  regu- 
lating the  supplies  of  food,  is  going  to  menace  our  democratic 
institutions?  That  is  not  the  kind  of  power  that  destroys  democ- 
racies, but  I  really  think,  having  heard  the  gentleman  describe 
the  dietary  which  the  food  controller  is  about  to  impose,  it  would, 
if  observed,  improve  rather  than  impair  our  constitutions ! 

Now,  Mr.  President,  can  we  not  safely  accept  this  dictator 
without  fear? 

Mr.  CHAMBERLAIN.  Mr.  President,  may  I  interrupt  the 
Senator  for  a  moment?  When  I  heard  the  statement  some  clays 
ago  that  Mr.  Hoover  has  practically  expatriated  himself,  or, 
rather,  concluded  from  the  statement  that  he  was  really  not  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  to  satisfy  myself  I  asked  and  re- 
ceived a  brief  statement  from  his  secretary  as  to  his  life,  which 
I  submit  to  the  Senator  and  in  the  Senator's  time  I  ask  that  he 
read  it  into  his  speech.  It  is  very  brief  and  it  will  save  any 
further  questions. 

Mr.  PHELAN.  At  the  request  of  the  Senator  from  Oregon, 
I  am  very  glad  to  read  the  brief  statement,  which  is  authentic. 

Mr.  CHAMBERLAIN.  It  was  sent  to  me  by  Mr.  Hoover's 
secretary. 

Mr.  PHELAN.  It  is  vouched  for  by  the  secretary  of  Mr. 
Hoover.  Here  is  the  true  story  of  his  life : 

Herbert  Clark  Hoover :  Born  West  Branch.  Iowa,  August  10,  1874. 
Quaker  parents.  After  death  of  parents  in  1883,  sent  to  Oregon  in 
charge  of  relatives,  residing  at  Newberg  and  Salem,  Oreg.,  until  1891. 
Became  self-supporting  at  13  years  of  age.  Went  to  Stanford  Uni- 
versity, California,  1891.  graduating  1895  as  mining  engineer.  Em- 
ployed professionally  in  New  Mexico,  Colorado,  California,  and  Oregon 
until  1897,  part  time  with  United  States  Geological  Survey.  In  1897 
went  to  Australia  in  administrative  metallurgical  work  and  mining. 

Returned  to  California  1899.  After  few  months  left  for  China  as 
an  engineering  adviser  to  the  Chinese  Government.  Returned  to 
California  1900,  after  outbreak  of  Boxer  rebellion.  After  few  months 
left  California  again  for  China  as  manager  of  industrial  works,  com- 
prising coal  mines  and  works,  fleet  of  .20  ships,  canals,  railways,  and 
harbor  works,  employing  some  25,000  men.  Returned  to  California 
in  1901. 

I  observe  that  he  has  always  returned  to  California ;  he  could 
not  stay  away. 

Mr.  REED.     How  long  did  he  stay  there?     A  few  months? 
2736—17729 


12 

Mr.  PIIELAN  (reading)  — 

Thereafter  opened  offices  in  San  Francisco,  New  York,  and  London, 
visiting  ail  points  annually.  Employed  in  administration  of  large  in- 
dustrial works,  embracing  railways,  metallurgical  work,  mining,  iron 
and  steel,  shipping,  land,  and  electrical  enterpises  in  California,  Colo- 
rado, Alaska,  Mexico,  India,  Russia,  and  China,  until  the  Avar  broke 
out  in  1914.  Was  a  trustee  of  Stanford  University,  Cal.,  and  spent 
much  time  there.  1901-1914,  in  affa.'rs  of  that  institution  and  on  con- 
duct of  business  in  that  State.  Went  to  London  just  before  war  broke 
out.  When  the  war  broke  out  became  engaged  in  the  organization  of 
return  of  stranded  Americans:  In  October,  1914,  organized  commission 
for  relief  in  Belgium,  and  remained  in  Europe  during  the,  war  with  the 
exception  of  a  return  to  the  United  States  in  the  fall  of  1915  and  the 
winter  of  1017. 

The  commission  for  relief  in  Belgium  from  October,  1914,  until  April, 
1917,  handled  the  import  of  upwards  to  100,000.000  bushels  of  wheat, 
rice,  beans,  peas,  and  other  cereals,  together  \v_ith  many  thousands  of 
tons  of  meat  products  ;  operating  its  own  fleet  of  from  50  to  70  ships, 
its  own  mills,  and  in  addition  thereto  acquired  and  redistributed 
cereals  and  several  other  staples  in  the  occupied  territory  involving 
between  30,000,000  and  40.000,000  bushels  of  other  cereals  and  large 
quantities  of  meats,  et  cetera,  et  cetera.  The  commission  for  relief  in 
Belgium  organized  and  distributed  a  ration  to  10,000,000  people,  di- 
rectly employing  upward  of  125,000  people  in  its  operations.  The 
personnel  was  in  a  great  majority  volunteer,  and  the  total  overhead 
expenses  of  the  commission  up  to  April,  1917,  were  three-eighths  of  1 

Eer    cent.      The    aggregate    amount    of    mon,ey    expended    on    imported 
oodstuffs  and  through  the  organisation  in  tfce  purchase  of  native  food 
supplies  was  approximately  $500,000  000. 

Never  sought  public  office  in  any  suape  or  form — 

I  hope  he  is  not  reproaching  the  rest  of  us — 

Returned  to  the  United  States  on  the  direct  request  of  the  Govern- 
ment, acting  entirely  as  a  volunteer  for  service  during  the  war  only. 

It  shows  his  close  association,  Mr.  President,  with  the  United 
States  through  his  California  citizenship  and  residence.  That 
he  is  an  American  there  is  no  question.  That  he  is  a  usurper 
with  a  sinister  and  malign  design  of  seizing  power  for  some 
unholy  use  is  absolutely  out  of  the  question;  that  is  not  in 
the  genius  of  an  American,  and  he  is  par  excellence  an  Ameri- 
can. It  is  true  he  has  traveled,  but  "  in  spite  of  all  temptations 
to  belong  to  other  nations  "  he  remains  an  American. 

I  ask  permission  to  insert  in  the  RECOBD  an  article  on  Mr. 
Hoover,  the  subject  of  discussion,  published  in  the  Saturday 
Evening  Post  of  May  26,  1917. 

The  PRESIDING  OFFICER.  If  there  is  no  objection,  it  is 
so  ordered. 

The  matter  referred  to  is  as  follows : 
HOOVER  OF  BELGIUM. 
[By  Ernest  Poole.] 

Whether  this  war  is  to  be  won  for  democracy  and  a  lasting  peace,  or 
is  to  be  halted,  through  starvation,  in  a  truce  that  will  make  its  blood- 
shed of  no  avail  to  humanity — this,  to  a  very  large  degree,  is  to  be 
settled  now  and  here  by  the  people  of  America.  We  must  feed  not  only 
our  own  population  but  the  people  of  our  allies.  That  we  can  do  this 
there  is  little  doubt.  The  resources,  of  this  land  are  so  varied  and  ex- 
haustless  that,  given  the  will,  the  way  will  be  found.  And  to  rouse  the 
will  and  point  the  way  the  Council  of  National  Defense  has  chosen 
Hoover  of  Belgium. 

A  better  leader  could  not  have  been  found.  To  rouse  the  will  of  this 
Nation — a  will  mysteriously  vast,  compounded  of  the  purposes,  the 
small  desires,  selfish  plans,  the  hopes  and  dreams  and  great  ideals,  the/ 
firm  beliefs  and  the  suspicions  of  more  than,  a  hundred  million  people—- 
here is  one  whose  very  name  is  a  great  national  asset  now.  For  it  has 
become  a  symbol  of  that  honesty  and  generous  will,  that  clean,  effi- 
cient action,  which  will  sweep  out  of  our  Yankee  minds  the  suspicion 
of  graft  and  slackness  here.  There  was  no  graft  in  Belgium  and  there 
shall  be  none  here.  There  was  clear,  hard  thinking,  exhausting  toil 
and  unselfishness  in  Belgium,  and  there  shall  be  those  qualities  here. 
But  to  those  sentimentalists  who  love  to  hear  great  stirring  appeals 
to  their  emotions,  let  it  be  clearly  said  at  the  start  that  Hoover  will 
disappoint  them. 
2736—17729 


.     13 

BIG   JOBS    IN   BOTH   HEMISPHERES. 

For  a  more  intensely  sensible  man  it  would  be  hard  to  discover.  He 
is  42  years  old.  Though  by  no  means  large  of  frame,  he  gives  at  once 
an  impression  of  force.  His  limbs  look  hard  ;  his  smooth  face  is  strong ; 
there  is  a  determined  look  to  his  jaws,  and  his  eyes  are  steady  and 
direct.  He  is  a  mining  engineer,  a  man  from  a  ruthless,  fighting  world, 
to  whom  at  the  outbreak  of  this  War  something  very  like  a  miracle 

Herbert  Clark  Hoover  was  born,  in  1874,  in  Iowa.  In  his  boyhood 
there  and  in  Oregon  he  early  developed  an  instinct  for  striking  out  on 
his  own  account.  To  a  large  extent  he  worked  his  way.  He  went  to 
school,  but  learned  much  more  from  life  itself  and  the  struggles  he  had. 
At  17  he  entered  the  School  of  Mines  at  Stanford  University,  where  he 
not  only  supported  himself  but  was  always  loaning  money  to  friends. 
At  21  he  graduated  and  went  out  with  the  Geological  Survey.  One  year 
later  he  was  appointed  assistant  manager  of  two  large  Australian  mines, 
and  his  work  there  was  so  successful  that  in  1897  he  was  chosen  by  the 
great  British  mining  firm  of  Bewick,  Moreing  &  Co.  to  become  their 
chief  of  staff  in  western  Australia.  He  held  that  position  for  three  years. 

Then  the  Chinese  Government  asked  him  to  take  charge  of  its  bureau 
of  mines  ;  and  a  year  later  he  became  general  manager  of  a  Belgian  cor- 
poration there.  During  the  Boxer  rebellion  Hoover  worked  a  machine 
gun  Soon  after  that  he  was  made  a  partner  of  Bewrck,  Moreing  &  Co. 
and  director  of  their  mining  activities.  He  was  still  but  28  years  old. 

Living  in  London  his  work  now  took  him  far  and  wide.  "In  Russia," 
said  a  friend  of  his,  "  I  went  with  him  to  a  mining  region  he  was 
directing  in  the  Ural  Mountains.  This  property  was  larger  than  Belgium, 
It  took  us  several  hours  by  train,  and  many  days  more  in  sledges  ovel? 
snow  and  ice,  to  inspect  it  all.  One  reason  for  his  success  in  this  project 
was  the  way  he  treated  the  Russians.  They  did  not  care  for  foreigners, 
who  had  always  treated  them  with  varying  degrees  of  contempt.  Hoover 
did  the  opposite.  He  took  the  Russian  ways  of  work  and  whenever 
possible  made  them  his  own.  He  cooperated  in  every  way,  and  they 
had  soon  taken  him  as  their  friend.  And  this  is  typical  of  him.  He  has 
always  somehow  or  other  turned  each  obstacle  to  his  use." 

In  his  hospitable  London  home  he  has  led  a  simple  life.  He  is  no 
society  man  at  all ;  his  manners  are  far  from  "  finished,"  and  small  talk 
bores  him  to  extinction.  He  seldom  tells  funny  stories  himself,  though 
he  likes  to  hear  them.  When  he  plays  bridge  he  plays  it  hard.  When  he 
has  a  day  off  he  likes  to  motor  with  his  family  out  into  the  country, 
build  a  fire,  and  cook  in  the  open.  Another  dissipation  of  his  is  the 
reading  of  detective  stories.  In  these  he  takes  a  huge  delight.  But  the 
rest  of  Hoover's  life  is  work.  At  times  he  labors  day  and  night.  "  When 
you're  with  him  on  a  job,"  said  a  friend,  "  you  can  call  him  up  at  1  a.  m. 
and  he  won't  appear  in  the  least  annoyed."  The  same  is  true  of  his 
reading.  He  reads  hard  and  grows  absorbed.  He  has  a  passion  for 
histories  and  biographies  of  all  kinds. 

By  sheer  work  he  has  made  himself  a  decidedly  forcible  writer.  His 
book  the  Principles  of  Mining  gives  in  a  clear,  simple  style  the  methods 
he  himself  used  to  rise.  And  his  other  achievement  in  this  line  is  the 
translation  of  De  Re  Metallica,  an  old  book  on  metals  and  mining, 
written  in  1530  by  Georg  Agricola,  a  Saxon,  who  wrote  in  a  doggrel 
Latin  that  had  defied  the  efforts  of  translators  for  over  400  years.  In 
slaving  at  this  puzzle  Hoover  took  a  grim  delight.  For  several  years  it 
took  his  spare  time.  It  was  one  of  his  ways  of  resting. 

He  was  always  quietly  helping  young  engineers  to  get  a  start.  His 
house  was  always  open  to  them.  As  for  outsiders  in  need  of  assistance, 
whoever  asked  Hoover  for  money  was  asked,  in  turn,  for  his  name  and 
address,  and  these  were  promptly  sent  to  an  officer  of  the  Salvation 
Army  whom  Hoover  employed  to  look  up  such  appeals.  He  was  a  gen- 
erous giver — but  always,  first,  he  had  to  be  shown.  He  often  helped  the 
Salvation  Army  ;  but  to  other  large  organized  charities  or  social  work 
of  any  kind  he  had  given  little  thought  or  time  except  when  approached 
for  funds. 

Such  was  Hoover's  _early  life — a  swift,  almost  miraculous  rise.  In 
1914  he  was  living  in  London,  wealthy  and  successful,  though  but  in 
his  fortieth  year.  The  fees  he  received  as  an  engineer  amounted  to 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars.  He  was  known  among  miners  all  over 
the  world.  It  had  been  a  ruthless,  fighting  world  of  big  mining  opera- 
tions and  finance  on  an  international  scale.  He  had  not  lived  the  sort 
of  life  that  is  very  likely  to  make  a  man  kind. 

Then  came  the  war.  On  the  morning  of  August  4,  1014,  the  American 
consul  in  London  called  Hoover  on  the  telephone.  "  Mr.  Hoover,"  he 
said,  "there's  a  mob  of  American  citizens  here,  trying  to  change  letters 
of  credit,  bank  drafts,  and  express  orders  for  English  gold.  And  we  re 
swamped !  For  God's  sake  come  over  and  help  up  out ! 
2736—17729 


14 

GETTING  FUNDS  FOR  PENNILESS  TOURISTS. 

Hoover  went  over  and  got  to  work.  He  telephoned  to  all  his 
friends:  "How  much  money  have  you  in  your  safes?  Get  all  the  cash 
you  can  raise  at  once  ;  get  in  at  the  back  doors  of  the  hanks.  Get  it 
anyway  short  of  larceny."  These  friends  responded  to  his  call.  They 
raised  about  $1200,000.  The  Government  loaned  the  same  amount. 
And,  through  their  efforts,  in  two  months  45,000  Americans  were  sent 
safely  home. 

Meantime,  over  in  Belgium  things  were  getting  desperate.  Seven  and 
a  half  million  people  were  facing  starvation  ;  and  Hoover  was  asked  to 
handle  the  work  of  relief  in  Belgium  and  northern  France.  At  once  he 
called  together  a  few  big,  able  Americans,  most  of  them  engineers  like 
himself  :  and  they  lost  no  time  in  getting  to  work.  The  first  day  they 
had  three  rooms — the  second  day,  a  dozen. 

Their  office  was  organized  with  a  speed  that  made  old  England  gasp 
for  breadth.  As  a  rule,  it  took  two  weeks  at  least  for  the  Government 
telephone  company  to  install  a  telephone.  In  this  office  it  was  done 
overnight,  with  a  switchboard  and  dozens  of  instruments.  And  they 
thanked  the  company  in  a  way  that  has  won  its  devotion  ever  since. 
Meantime  Hoover  had  organized.  He  had  sent  one  man  to  arrange  for 
ships,  and  another  over  to  Rotterdam  to  make  ready  to  transport  the 
supplies  from  there  into  Belgium.  Others  were  already  buying  food. 

Hoover's  way  is  to  do  things  first  and  ask  permission  later.  He  and 
his  associates  'had  only  $500,000  promised  from  the  English  Govern- 
ment. But,  with  this  in  sight,  they  arranged  to  place  orders  every  week 
for  $2,000,000  worth  of  food !  They  purchased  food,  got  it  to  the 
docks,  chartered  vessels,  and  loaded  them.  Then,  when  the  hatches 
were  all  closed,  Hoover  sought  permission  to  make  shipment.  He  went 
before  the  proper  official. 

"  Unless  I  get  four  shiploads  of  food  to  Belgium  before  the  end  of  the 
week  those  people  will  starve,"  he  said. 

The  high  official  deeply  regretted  his  inability  to  aid  him.  The  food 
could  not  be  purchased  ;  the  railroads  were  choked  with  munitions  of 
war  ;  the  ships  were  all  under  Government  orders.  Hoover  heard  him  to 
the  end. 

"  I  have  attended  to  all  that,"  he  said.  "  The  ships  are  loaded  and 
ready.  All  I  need  now  is  clearance  papers." 

The  official  stared  at  him. 

"  Young  man,"  he  said,  "  there  have  been  men  sent  to  the  Tower  for 
less  than  you  have  done  here.  If  it  were  anyone  else,  or  for  any  other 
'cause,  I  hate  to  think  what  might  happen." 

The  ships  sailed  a  few  hours  later.     So  the  work  of  the  C.  R.  B.  began. 

"  We  had  thought  initially,"  Hoover  said,  "  that  so  terrible  a  situa- 
tion could  exist  only  for  days  ;  that  we  must  find  a  few  millions  of 
dollars.  -But  within  a  month  we  realized  that  we  were  confronted  with 
a  task  not  merely  over  days  but  months,  and  an  expenditure  far  beyond 
the  dreams  of  any  relief  hitherto  known." 

FFEDING  THE   HUNGRY. 

He  appealed  to  the  French  and  English  Governments  for  immense  ap- 
propriations ;  and  meantime,  in  tactful  cooperation  with  native  leaders 
over  in  Belgium  and  northern  France,  Hoover  and  his  American  friends 
began  to  bring  order  out  of  chaos.  The  generous  men  who  intended  to 
help  only  for  days  or  weeks  stayed  on  for  years.  Hoover's  spirit  held 
them  there.  The  number  of  these  volunteers  swelled  to  50,000.  Some 
200  were  Americans  ;  the  rest  were  French  and  Belgians.  Thousands 
labored  day  and  night,  and  practically  all  served  without  pay.  The 
overhead  charges  of  the  commission  have  been  six-tenths  of  1  per 
cent ;  for  there  was  a  great  cause  and  a  great  leader  here.  And  week  by 
week  and  month  by  month  there  grew  up  a  vast  intricate  organization, 
with  some  4,000  committees  all  over  the  world  raising  money  and  pur- 
chasing supplies,  and  in  Belgium  and  northern  France  a  carefully 
worked-out  system  of  over  4,000  other  committees,  large  and  small,  rest- 
ing at  the  bottom  upon  a  group  in  every  commune,  with  a  small  ware- 
house from  which  food  and  clothing  were  issued  upon  ration  cards. 

There  were  soup  kitchens,  baby  canteens  where  400,000  babies  got  spe- 
cial food.  In  addition  1,200,000  school  children  got  a  special  meal  each 
day  to  help  check  the  rapid  and  ominous  spread  of  tuberculosis  among 
them.  This  meal  cost  a  million  and  a  quarter  dollars  a  month  ;  but, 
even  so,  it  did  not  go  far.  The  public  health  had  to  be  carefully  watched. 
There  had  to  be  rigid  control  of  the  distribution  of  all  supplies,  both 
native  and  imported.  Justice  must  be  done  to  all.  Fertilizers  and  seeds 
must  be  found.  By  the  decrease  of  these  and  of  live  stock  the  native 
supplies  now  swiftly  declined.  The  problem  grew  harder  every  month. 
Always  more  money  must  be  secured  ;  always  new  remedies  must  be 
found. 

Nor  was  it  only  a  problem  of  feeding.  One-half  of  the  Belgians  were 
out  of  work  :  and  there  were  the  regular  paupers — the  blind,  the 
orphans,  and  the  helpless.  Three  million  five  hundred  thousand  people 
2736—177^0 


15 

in  Belgium  and  2,000,000  more  in  northern  France  were  wholly  desti- 
tute. They  must  be  -clothed  with  millions  of  garments,  warmed  by 
thousands  of  tons  of  cool  ;  and  those  who  were  homeless  must  be 
housed.  New  committees  constantly  had  to  be  formed.  In  the  pres- 
ence of  diminished  shipping  the  inward  flow  of  food  must  increase.  It 
must  be  done  cheaply  "an.'  without  fail.  And,  in  order  to  save  every 
possible  dollar,  only  those  kinds  of  food  must  be  bought  that  would  give 
the  greatest  nourishment.  This  they  learned  from  expert  dietitians. 

But,  as  to  purchasing  supplies,  there  were  big  men  on  the  C.  R.  B. 
who  needed  no  expert  advice.  They  knew  all  the  tricks  of  the.  business. 
When  the  price  of  beans  began  to  rise  they  bought  1,000  tons  of  beans 
and  threw  them  back  in  one  lot  on  the  market.  Down  went  prices. 
They  bought  in  sma<l  lots.  Slowly  again  the  price  began  rising;  but 
once  more  the  terrific  impact  of  1,000  tons  of  beans  was  felt.  Again 
the  price  dropped,  and  again  their  agents  bought  beans  in  small  lots. 

So  again  and  again  did  that  same  thousand  tons  of  beans  hammer 
down  prices  and  save  the  day.  The  same  was  true  wherever  they  went. 
In  food  and  in  shoes  and  clothing  repeatedly,  through  expert  advice 
of  business  men  as  shrewd  as  themselves,  they  went  into  the  market 
and  bought  at  cost,  and  often  below  it. 

They  employed  some  70  cargo  ships  flying  the  flag  of  the  C.  R.  B. 
They  used  hundreds  of  fugs  and  canal  boats  and  railroad  cars.  They 
operated  not  only  warehouses  but  large  mills  and  factories.  And  they 
distributed  every  month  220,000,000  pounds  of  bread,  20,000,000  pounds 
of  bacon  and  lard,  5,000,000  tins  of  condensed  milk,  beans,  corn, 
coffee,  sugar,  and  thousands  of  tons  of  other  supplies.  Each  month 
their  dependents  consumed  the  wheat  product  of  nearly  200,000  acres. 
The  commission  expended  $14,000,000  every  month,  and  made  every 
dollar  count.  Hoover  was  in  full  action  now. 

But,  despite  all  these  resources  and  these  Herculean  efforts,  "  We 
were  haunted  in  every  dark  hour,"  he  says,  "  by  the  grim  tragedy  of 
possible  failure ;  for  we  never  saw  a  timq  when  our  finances  were  cer- 
tain for  60  days  ahead,  or  a  time  when  our  contracts  did  not  exceed 
our  assets  from  five  million  to  twenty  million  dollars."  They  went 
begging  to  the  world,  and  at  first  the  response  was  promising. 

"  In  a  moment  of  desperation,"  he  writes,  "I  assessed  the  miners  of 
Australia,  where  I  had  had  a  connection  lor  years.  I  told  them  wliat 
they  ought  to  give,  and  I  received  in  two  months  $750,000  for  Belgium 
from  a  country  already  combed  to  the  bottom  for  relief  and  distress 
work.  We  appealed  to  the  miners  of  Johannesburg,  and  the  laborers 
in  the  mines  gave  10  per  cent  of  their  wages,  and  the  owners  dupli- 
cated the  amount." 

THE    OLD    LADIES'    GIFT. 

So  it  was  in  other  parts  of  the  world.  There  were  responses  large  and 
small.  A  letter  from  two  old  ladies  in  England  inclosed  12  silver 
buttons,  which  they  had  cut  from  their  best  gowns.  They  said  it  was 
all  they  had  to  give.  Hoover  replied,  I  was  told  by  a  friend,  to  this 
effect : 

"  DEAR  LADIES  :  It  is  not  necessary  yet  to  permit  such  sacrifice  as 
yours.  Your  action  has  led  one  of  us  here  to  contribute  £10  to  the 
Belgian  cause.  So  what  you  have  done  was  not  in  vain.  I  return  your 
buttons — all  except  one,  which,  if  you  will  alow  me,  I  shall  keep  as  .a 
reminder  that  there  are  people  like  you  in  the  world." 

But  there  were  not  enough  people  like  that,  it  seemed.  And  for  its 
work  the  C.  R.  B.  has  been  driven  to  count  more  and  more  on  the 
French  and  British  Governments.  Of  the  $250,000,000  spent  in  the 
work  more  than  four-fifths  has  come  from  them  or  from  their  banks  and 
has  been  debited  to  the  Belgian  nation  or  to  the  communes  and  munici- 
palities in  northern  France  that  have  received  its  benefits. 

Hoover  soon  won  such  implicit  trust  from  the  French  and  British 
Governments  that  they  asked  for  no  accounting.  They  put  their  money 
in  his  hands  and  simply  told  him  to  go  ahead. 

But  Hoover  did  not  do  business  that  way.  Before  many  months  he 
had  organized  an  immense  and  tortuous  system  of  bureaus  of  account- 
ing, audit,  statistics,  find  inspection  covering  the  whole  range  of  their 
work  from  New  York  and  Buenos  Aires  to  the  last  village  in  northern 
France. 

"  The  monument  of  our  efficiency,"  he  said,  "  lies  in  the  fact  that  the 
bread  sold  in  Belgium  to  those  whp  can  pay  has  always  been  from  15 
to  20  per  cent  cheaper  than  in  New  York  City.J) 

From  such  a  record  Hoover's  fame  spread  over  Europe  far  and  wide. 
All  the  Governments  of  the  allies  were  soon  seeking  his  counsel  in  re- 
gard to  the  pressing  food  problems  they  had  at  home.  And  in  Germany 
when  Herr  Batocki  was  made  the  food  dictator  there  he  was  prompt  in 
asking  Hoover's  advice. 

Hoover's  relation  with  Germany  made  the  most  difficult  part  of  his 
task.  In  the  life  he  has  led  for  nearly  three  years,  in  London  and  in 
2736—17729 


16 

Paris,  in  Holland  and  in  Belgium,  foremost  among  the  chaos  of  tasks 
was  the  anxiety  of  dealing  each  d;\y  Avith  an  occupying  army,  with 
arbitrary  methods  and  everchanging  rules  and  laws.  He  had  to  nego- 
tiate and  maintain  international  agreements  for  the  protection  of  foods 
and  ships  ;  for  guaranties  that  his  supplies  should  not  be  consumed  by 
the  invaders.  It  required  tact  and  dogged  persistence. 

At  first  the  Germans  could  not  understand  him.  He  did  not  fit  into 
their  scheme  of  things.  His  Kultur  was  not  the  same,  and  he  had  no 
Schreckliehket  at  all — except  his  Yankee  stubbornness.  At  last,  how- 
ever, they  trusted  him.  They  could  not  let  the  Belgians  die,  and  here 
was  relief  work  free  of  charge. 

His  businesslike  ways  appealed  to  them.  Individual  German  officers 
became  his  warm  friends  and  gave  him  support,  and  their  Government 
gradually  came  into  line,  lie  still  had  his  troubles,  but  overcame  them. 
When  one  of  his  ships  was  torpedoed  Hoover  took  a  trip  to  Berlin, 
where;  he  wa,s  solemnly  assured  that  it  would  never  happen  again. 

"  Your  excellency,"  he  said  to  the  German,  "  there  was  a  man  once  whj) 
was  annoyed  by  a  snarling  dog.  He  went  to  see  the  owner  and  asked  him 
to  muzzle  the  dog.  'There  is  no  need  of  that,'  said  the  owner,  'the 
dog  will  never  bite  you.'  '  Maybe,'  said  the  man.  '  You  know  the  dog 
will  not  bite  me.  I  know  the  dog  will  not  bite  me.  But  does  the  dog 
know? '  " 

"  Pardon  me  one  moment,  Herr  Hoover.  I  Avill  telephone  at  once 
to  the  dog." 

Hoover's  parable   got  action. 

That  was  over  two  years  ago,  and  there  came  a  respite  from  subma- 
rines. There  were  other  troubles,  but  he  stood  his  ground.  He  tried 
to  talk  to  the  German  officials  as  though  he  had  behind  him  an  America 
ready  to  rise  to  a  man.  But  the  Germans  refused  to  believe  it. 

They  knew  that,  in  spite  of  all  the  appeals  Hoover  had  made  to  this 
country,  we  had  contributed  to  his  cause  less  than  4  per  cent  of  the  total 
amount.  And  this  notAvithstanding  the  fact  that  his  commission  had 
spent  more  than  $150,000,000  here  in  the  purchase  of  supplies  !  Our 
profits  out  of  the  Belgian  relief  had  been  $30,000,000  at  leasr.  We  had 
given  $9,000,000  in  return.  And  Hoover  felt  this  deeply. 

"  Time  and  time  again."  he  has  stated,  "  Avhen  the  door  of  Belgium 
threatened  to  close  Ave  defended  its  portals  by  the  assertion  that  this 
was  an  American  enterprise,  and  that  the  sensibilities  of  the  American 
people  would  bo  Avounded  beyond  measure — would  be  outraged — if  its 
work  Avcre  interfered  with. 

But  the  Germans  scoffed  at  this  idea.  In  one  crisis  with  a  high 
official,  Avhen  Hoover  had  made  a  \*eiled  threat  of  this  kind,  the  official 
responded  as  i'olloAvs  : 

"  Mr.  IIooA'er,  I  Avill  grant  your  request — not  on  account  of  your 
country,  but  on  account  of  you  and  your  friends,  a  small  group  of 
eccentric  gentlemen  Avho  happen  to  be  of  American  birth.  You  have 
worked  miracles  here  in  Belgium  and  the  Avorld  will  not  forget  you. 
But  don't  speak  to  me  of  America ;  for  it  ?.s  not  behind  you.  Your 
country  cares  for  nothing  on  earth  but  money,  Avar  profits — -only  that." 

In  sizing  up  other  countries,  however,  Germany  has  not  been  strong. 
And  as  the  causes  have  piled  up  and  the  great  issue  has  grown  clear — 
democracy  or  tyranny — the  nation  despised  by  the  German  official 
has  at  last  roused  to  the  summons  and  taken,  with  its  free  allies,  the 
great  road  that  leads  to  a  liberal  world. 

And  so  Hoover  has  been  called  back  home  to  lead  us  in  that  part 
of  our  task  which  is  perhaps  most  pressing  now.  He  is  coming  to 
the  aid  of  pur  Department  of  Agriculture  with  the  most  careful  and 
comprehensiA^e  kuoAvledge  of  all  such  problems  as  Ave  must  solve,  gath- 
ered not  only  from  his  OAVII  Avork,  but  from  all  that  he  has  observed  of 
similar  ATast  operations  in  the  countries  of  the  allies. 

Moreover,  before  coming  home  he  took  nearly  a  month  for  consul- 
tation Avith  members  of  the  British,  Fr-ench,  and  Italian  ministries, 
and  for  an  accurate  survey  of  the  food  and  shipping  situation.  And 
the  groundAvork  has  been  laid  for  interallied  cooperation  in  handling 
and  transporting  the  vast  food  supplies  required  from  us. 

As  to  the  great  cause  at  stake  and  to  the  Germany  he  has  known, 
Hoover  has  had  this  to  say  : 

"For  tAvo  and  a  half  years  AVC  have  been  obliged  to  remain  silent 
Avitr.osscs  of  the  character  of  the  forces  dominating  this  Avar.  But 
AVO  arc  now  at  liberty  to  say  that,  though  we  break  with  great  regret 
our  association  with  many  Gorman  indiA7iduals,  yet  it  is  our  convic- 
tion, born  of  our  intimate  expedience  and  contact,  that  there  is  no  hope 
for  democracy  or  liberalism,  and  consequently  for  the  real  peace  and 
safety  of  our  country,  unless  the  system  which  brought  the  Avorld 
into  this  unfathomable  misery  is  stamped  out,  once  and  for  all." 
2736—1772!) 


O 


